AyyankaliAyyankali (also Ayyan Kali) (28 August 1863 – 1941) was a social
reformer who worked for the advancement of those people in the
princely state of Travancore, British India, who were treated as
untouchables. His efforts influenced many changes that improved the
social wellbeing of those people, who are today often referred to as
Dalits.
In November 1980,
Indira GandhiIndira Gandhi unveiled a statue of
AyyankaliAyyankali at
KowdiarKowdiar square in Thiruvananthapuram.

Background[edit]
AyyankaliAyyankali was born on 28 August 1863 in Venganoor, Thiruvananthapuram,
Travancore. He was the oldest of eight children born to Ayyan and
Mala, who were members of the
PulayarPulayar community of untouchables.
Although the family were relatively well-off compared to other
Pulayars, having been given 5 acres (2.0 ha) of land by a
grateful landlord, the children were encouraged to adopt the customary
occupation of agriculture.[1] Members of the
PulayarPulayar community
generally were rural slaves at this time.[2]
The region in which
AyyankaliAyyankali lived, which now forms a part of the
state of Kerala, was particularly affected by social divisions during
his lifetime and was described by
Swami VivekanandaSwami Vivekananda as a "mad house"
of castes.[3] The Pulayars were regarded as the lowest group of people
in the kingdom[4] and they suffered badly from oppressive
discrimination, in particular from members of the powerful Nair
caste.[5] Robin Jeffrey, a professor specialising in the modern
history and politics of India, quotes the wife of a Christian
missionary, who wrote in 1860 of the complex social code that

... a
NairNair can approach but not touch a Namboodiri Brahmin: a
Chovan [Ezhava] must remain thirty-six paces off, and a Pulayan slave
ninety-six steps distant. A Chovan must remain twelve steps away from
a Nair, and a Pulayan sixty-six steps off, and a Parayan some distance
farther still. A Syrian Christian may touch a
NairNair (though this is not
allowed in some parts of the country) but the latter may not eat with
each other. Pulayans and Parayars, who are the lowest of all, can
approach but not touch, much less may they eat with each other.[6]

Suffering from this social injustice caused
AyyankaliAyyankali to join with
like-minded Pulayan friends. These young people gathered at the end of
their workday to sing and dance to folk music that protested the
situation. Some joined him in forming a group that challenged and
threatened members of the upper castes whenever an opportunity arose,
sometimes attacking them physically. His popularity earned him the
names of Urpillai and Moothapullai.[5]
AyyankaliAyyankali married Chellamma in 1888. The couple had seven children.[7]
Campaigning[edit]
Freedom of movement[edit]
In 1893, Ayyankali, dressed to provoke in clothing traditionally
associated with the Nairs,[8] defied the social conventions that
applied to lower castes and untouchables by riding on a road in a
bullock cart that he had bought. Both the act of purchase and that of
travelling on a road that was traditionally the preserve of the upper
castes amounted to a significant challenge. In a similar act of
defiance, he entered the marketplace at Nedumangad. These protests,
which have been described by Nisar and Kanadasamy as "laying claim to
the public space", strengthened resolve among others from the
oppressed communities of Travancore, leading to further protest acts
elsewhere, such as in Kazhakkoottam.[9] The outcome of continued
protest marches, which sometimes turned violent and became known as
Chaliyar riots,[8] was that by 1900 the Pulayars had gained the right
to use most roads in the state, although they were still barred from
those that led to Hindu temples.[10]
Later, in 1904,
AyyankaliAyyankali was inspired on hearing a speech given by
the reformist Ayyavu Swamikal. This Hindu sanyasi of the Tamil
Community had been preaching the need to break down caste divisions
because he thought that doing so would limit the number of people who
were converting from Hinduism to Christianity.[a] A branch of
Swamikal's Brahma Nishta Matam organisation was established in that
year by
AyyankaliAyyankali and some friends in Venganoor.
AyyankaliAyyankali also drew
inspiration from the activities of Narayana Guru, a contemporary
social reformer from the
EzhavaEzhava caste, although the two men differed
in their philosophy and the means of turning it into reality.[12]
Narayana GuruNarayana Guru had attempted to forge an alliance between the Ezhavas
and untouchable communities such as the Pulayars but there had been
violent opposition to the idea from his brethren and the Pulayars
remained voiceless until the emergence of Ayyankali.[10][b]
Education[edit]
AyyankaliAyyankali also sought to improve access to education. Some Pulayars
had access from around the mid-nineteenth century, mostly through the
activities of the
Colonial Missionary Society and London Missionary
Society.[c] Conversion to Christianity was a prerequisite for
attendance at such schools, and there were cases where Pulayars
offered to contribute to the cost of supplying teachers for them.[14]
However, Ayyankali, who was illiterate,[15] believed that education
should be available to all children and this meant that government
schools should allow access to untouchables.[14]
The government was already attempting to modernise its approach to
social welfare in an attempt to impress on the British colonial
administration that there was no need for the region to be annexed.
Several public schools had been opened to untouchable communities
after 1895 but the right to primary education was limited in
scope.[14] State funding of education became effective in 1904[16] but
even after the government ordered schools to admit these untouchable
people in 1907, local officials found ways to refuse it.[14] In that
year, helped by the experience gained from organising the Brahma
Nishta Mattam,[17]
AyyankaliAyyankali founded the Sadhu Jana Paripalana Sangham
(SJPS) (Association for the Protection of the Poor) which campaigned
for access to schools and raised funds to set up Pulayar-operated
schools in the interim.[13] This attracted support from both Hindus
and Christians.[18][d]
An attempt by
AyyankaliAyyankali to enrol a
PulayarPulayar girl in a government school
led to violent acts perpetrated by upper castes against the community
and eventually to the burning-down of the school building in the
village of Ooruttambalam. His response was to organise what may have
been the first strike action by agricultural workers in the region,
who withdrew their labour from the fields that were owned by the upper
castes until the government acceded to a complete removal of
restrictions on education.[19][e]
AyyankaliAyyankali was also central to the success of the Pulayan challenge
against the traditional stricture that prohibited female members of
the community from clothing their upper body when in public. Caste
Hindus had insisted that the custom was necessary to distinguish the
lowly status of untouchable people but during the 19th century their
belief had come under increasing attack from various untouchable
groups and from Christian missionaries. The Channar revolt, through
which the Nadar community were able to overturn the practice in so far
as it affected themselves, had happened not long before Ayyankali's
birth but the Pulayars remained affected by the discriminatory code
until 1915-16.[20]
He started a school to teach Untouchable children at
Venganoor.[citation needed]
Representation[edit]
AyyankaliAyyankali later became a member of the assembly of Travancore, known
as the
Sree Moolam Popular Assembly (SMPA) or Praja Sabha.[16]
AyyankaliAyyankali died on 18 June 1941.[citation needed]
Contribution and influence in society[edit]
The historian P. Sanal Mohan has described
AyyankaliAyyankali as "the most
important
DalitDalit leader of modern Kerala".[21] The anniversary of
Ayyankali's birth has been celebrated by his descendants and by
special interest groups.[22]
Through the efforts of people such as K. K. Balakrishnan, P. K.
Chathan Master and K. P. Madhavan, the Sri
AyyankaliAyyankali Trust was
established. A life-size bronze statue of him, sculpted by Ezra David,
travelled from Madras through the length of
KeralaKerala prior to being
erected in Thiruvananthapuram.[citation needed]
References[edit]
Notes

^ The number of conversions to Christianity had burgeoned after 1860,
when the influence of Christian missionaries as a route to achieve
social change became apparent to the oppressed populace.[11]
^ The
EzhavaEzhava and
PulayarPulayar communities did ally occasionally on later
occasions, one of which was the campaign to gain access to the temple
at Vaikom.[13]
^ The
London Missionary SocietyLondon Missionary Society established the Pulaya Charity School
in
ThiruvananthapuramThiruvananthapuram in 1861, and similar schools were developed
across the region.[14]
^ Sources vary regarding whether
AyyankaliAyyankali or Krishnathi Asan later
founded the All-Cochin Pulaya Maha Sabha (Pulaya Great Assembly) in
1913.[13][16]
^ The date of this strike is disputed. Some sources say it occurred in
1915 but others say 1907-08.[10]